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Frazee family plans soldier’s funeral
Published 12:00pm Monday, March 26, 2007As a Frazee family makes funeral arrangements for their fallen soldier, they remember their son and brother, Sgt. Greg N. Riewer, 28, as a quiet man who could always make others smile.
Riewer, a member of A Co., 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry died Friday in combat. While conducting a mounted patrol, soldiers of A Company encountered an improvised explosive device (IED) near Fallujah, at about 5:30 p.m. Iraq time, according to the Minnesota National Guard. The IED detonated near Riewer’s vehicle, killing him. Three other Minnesota National Guard Soldiers were reported injured in the incident. Their names were not immediately released.
“We’re not granting interviews right now,” Riewer’s sister, Amy, said. “We’re going to be putting together a press release real soon.”
A 1997 graduate of Frazee High School, Riewer was one of 13 children of Richard and Jan Riewer, Frazee, including a brother who is serving in the same company, said Maj. Patricia Baker, a Guard spokeswoman. Riewer served in Bosnia and both he and his brother, Staff Sgt. Andrew Riewer, were sent to Iraq together last year, Baker said.
Through the National Guard, Greg’s father shared these thoughts about his son: “He always made me smile. I loved calling him ‘smiley.’ … Greg didn’t say much but would smile to let you know he loved you … Greg’s brother, Andy, was a huge inspiration to him. They were truly best friends … Greg enjoyed spending time with his nieces and nephews. They were the apple of his eye … I will miss him horribly.”
Greg also loved baseball, basketball, football, riding his motorcycle and hunting with his family.
“The loss of Sgt. Riewer is a tragedy,” Maj. Gen. Larry Shellito, the adjutant general of Minnesota, said in a statement. “He was proudly serving his state and nation in a combat zone when he was taken from us. It is with a heavy heart that I once again ask the citizens of Minnesota to remember this soldier and his family in their prayers.”
Funeral arrangements are pending with Furey Funeral Home in Frazee.
Fifty-four people with strong Minnesota ties have died in connection with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
